Bill Barr Lays Out War on Terror Playbook for Decimating Mexican Drug Cartels

Former attorney general Bill Barr believes the United States should use the lessons it learned from the War on Terror in the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

“There were 80,000 ISIS [militants] controlling a large territory in the Middle East, and we had a couple thousand special forces as well as local supporting groups such as the Kurds,” Barr told National Review in an interview. “Over time, we were able to destroy them. Now, a lot of that included bombing targets, and I’m not suggesting we do that here, but the ability to use special operations and precision operations against what are paramilitary forces will allow us to reduce them in pretty short order.”

About the Author

Zach Kessel

Zach Kessel was a William F. Buckley Jr. Fellow in Political Journalism and a recent graduate of Northwestern University.

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Former attorney general Bill Barr believes the United States should use the lessons it learned from the War on Terror in the fight against Mexican drug cartels.

“There were 80,000 ISIS [militants] controlling a large territory in the Middle East, and we had a couple thousand special forces as well as local supporting groups such as the Kurds,” Barr told National Review in an interview. “Over time, we were able to destroy them. Now, a lot of that included bombing targets, and I’m not suggesting we do that here, but the ability to use special operations and precision operations against what are paramilitary forces will allow us to reduce them in pretty short order.”